Improving SIDN's electronic accessibility

What is electronic accessibility?

We're pleased to follow the definition of electronic accessibility used by the Dutch interior ministry. Essentially, that means giving people with functional disabilities the same access to electronic information and services as other people have.

Why does electronic accessibility matter?

According to the government, there are about 2 million people with disabilities in the Netherlands. However, that number doesn't include people with things such as colour-blindness, dyslexia, ADHD or impaired hearing. So the total number of people who face problems accessing electronic information and services is much greater. What's more, as the population gets older, a growing proportion of us will be living with some form of disability. Against that background, the EU has passed the European Accessibility Act, requiring that products and services offered online to European citizens must be accessible to everyone from June 2025. We fully accept the need for electronic accessibility, and we're therefore committed to aligning our website with the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as soon as possible.

Our approach

Study

With the help of the Accessibility Foundation, we've carefully analysed the electronic accessibility of sidn.nl. We're now working with our partner Us Media to improve the site in line with the findings.

Wide-ranging improvements

We've made various specific changes to the code of our website, so that it's easier to navigate for people who rely on screen readers or can't use a mouse. As well as improving the text and videos, we've reviewed the colour contrast. Our house style is very colourful, and we want to retain the bright, modern impression the colours create. Also, sidn.nl is an extensive, established website. Those 2 factors can sometimes mean that accommodating everyone's wishes is a difficult balancing act. We've therefore decided to let visitors choose for themselves which colour variant they prefer to browse.

Choice of 3 colour variants

Using the accessibility button in the main menu, you can now choose which of 3 variants you want to view: the standard, full-colour website, a dark-mode version or a black-and-white version. The third of those options is best for people with impaired vision, while the dark mode is an intermediate version, with a black background instead of white. Dark mode has the spin-off benefit of being more energy-efficient and therefore kinder to the environment, while enabling you to enjoy a full-colour website.

Maintaining electronic accessibility

Of course, a study such as the one we did can only provide a snapshot of our website's accessibility at a given moment. And some of the drawbacks flagged up by the study will take time to correct. For example, reducing the number of PDFs and/or migrating to accessible PDFs, replacing PDF forms with webforms, and improving the cookie notice are all things that can't be done overnight. We've covered such issues in the Accessibility Statement that's been added to the website. Nevertheless, with our dedicated content team, all trained in electronic accessibility, we're fully committed to making our site accessible to everyone, and to keeping it that way.

Feedback

Got feedback on the changes we've made, or ideas for further improvements? Drop us a line! After all, the best testers are real-life users. Mail your input to communicatie@sidn.nl.